Israeli soldiers shot a 15-year-old Palestinian Friday evening with a live bullet near the village of Nilin in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli settler’s vehicle near an Israeli bypass road in the territory.

The boy was identified as Utayba Jiyad Hussein Amireh. The details of his injury were not yet known as of Saturday.

Israeli soldiers sealed the area following the shooting and prevented people and Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances from approaching the wounded teenager, according to locals.

Amireh was detained and transferred to an unidentified location.

The entrance of Nilin was also sealed, as Israeli forces erected a military checkpoint and prevented any vehicles from coming in or out of the village.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that the official responsible for the shooting was from the Israeli border police. However, a spokesperson for the Israeli border police was not immediately available to comment on the incident.

The shooting was the latest of a series of incidents where Israeli forces have been strongly condemned for their treatment of Palestinian minors. Four Palestinian minors have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year.

Last month, 17-year-old Muhammad Mahmoud Ibrahim al-Hattab succumbed to his wounds in a hospital after being shot by Israeli forces, along with three other Palestinian youths who have remained in critical condition.

Local sources told Ma’an at the time of the event that Israeli soldiers in a military tower near the entrance of the camp, which is located adjacent to the illegal Israeli settlement of Beit El, fired heavily towards the teens’ vehicle while they were inside.

An Israeli army spokesperson, however, claimed that the boys were throwing Molotov cocktails at the settlement, and that they were outside of their car when they were shot.

However, evidence uncovered following the incident has cast serious doubt on Israel’s version of events.

Earlier last month, Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Murad Yousif Abu Ghazi in al-Arrub refugee camp north of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, with the Israeli army at the time claiming that Abu Ghazi was throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli settler vehicles.

The Israeli army also claimed that 17-year-old Qusay Hassan al-Umour was throwing Molotov cocktails in January when Israeli forces shot al-Umour in the chest with live fire at least three times and killed him — a claim that was widely contradicted by video evidence and investigations undertaken by rights groups, who branded the incident an unlawful and unjustified killing.

In many cases, Israel’s version of events has been disputed by witnesses, activists, and rights groups who have denounced what they have termed a “shoot-to-kill” policy against Palestinians who did not constitute a threat at the time of their death, or who could have been subdued in a non-lethal manner — amid a backdrop of impunity for Israelis who committed the killings.

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